The Super Duper UK Public Transport Question Thread

Original post by WarriorInAWig

Gathurst to Bournville
Easter Friday
Open return (day)
2 adults, 1 16-25 railcard
Go!

Right here goes, I eventually got the best price I can find after about 45 mins.

Gathurst to Crewe - £24.55 for both of you.
Then a West Midlands Day Ranger each, about £37 in all for both of you.

~£61~ ish in all.

A marginal £8 saving but the WCML is an expensive stretch of line to travel on.

First alternative is buying tickets like so:
GST to SOT - £30.70 for both of you
SOT to STA - £12.60 for both of you
STA to BRV - £15.50 for both of you

£58.80, you'd have to go via Manchester and on trains to Birmingham that stop at SOT (Stoke on Trent) and STA (Stafford). Its also a slower route.

Another way I can find but via a silly/slower route is
GST to CRE - £24.55
CRE to STA - £16.75
STA to BRV - £16.55
Just over £57. But you'd have to via Stafford, changing at Crewe to a London Midland train to Birmingham, adds probably an hour on each way.

3rd edit:
GST to Stockport - £6.80
Stockport to Stoke on Trent - £15.45 (need it valid on Virgin Trains Only)
Stoke on Trent to Stafford - £10.45
Stafford to Bournville - £16.45

£49.15 in all for both of you. You'd need to go via Stockport. Valid on 0649 from Gathurst, change at Oxford Road.

0823 from SPT to SOT
0907 from SOT to STA
1012 from BHM to BRV.

Original post by DMed

You're looking at £69.70 for both of you, one adult and one railcard. First train out is 06:49 (arriving 09:35) and then roughly on a similar time every hour thereafter. Last train out is 20:49 (arriving 23:19)

You change at Wigan Wallgate (walk to Wigan NW) and Birmingham New Street on the way down and at Birmingham and Manchester on the way up (some you may need to change at Bolton as well).

Hope that helps.

That's just the cost of 2 Off Peak Returns from GST to BRV :s-smilie:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 563

thefish_uk

14

Right, here's a question for you public transport fans...

Does anybody have experience of the Oxford Tube (or other cheap coach services between London and Oxford) during Friday afternoon rush hour?

I need to travel from London to Oxford on Friday night after work to go to a party. I've caught the Oxford Tube several times in the past but always at the weekend; I'm worried that in the Friday afternoon peak it'll take ages and I'll have to leave work early and/or get to the party late. I'm used to it taking 1hr40-2hrs, can anybody who's caught it at this time tell me what to expect?

The alternative of course is the train from Paddington (possibly changing at Reading) - more reliable I hope but also more expensive!

Reply 564

mahsidi

Hi

i have finally got my student rail card all signed off and I'll save a lot of money.

From Slough to Holborn return. Via Ealing. Peak. Is £12.

Via Paddington is £13.60

all day travel card £16.40

from what I was paying peak at 21£ something.

Now I heard that some people link their Oyster cards with their young person railcard.

Although I live in slough and there is no oyster till West Drayton. I have family where I can get an Oyster card registered to.

Can i still link them and still be paying the 12£ return from Slough. It really saves the hassle of losing cards and opening my wallet.

Thanks for your time

Reply 565

Alex17595

I don't see why people think fares are so high, as long as you are willing to go through fares and routeing points you can go dirt cheap. get a private and go extremeley cheap!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 566

RobinK

I'll soon be beginning to commute into London from Leighton Buzzard for work, and I'm trying to work out what will end up cheapest until I can afford to move closer.

So far I see the options as:
A) Buy daily train and underground tickets (to Piccadilly Circus)
B) Buy daily train tickets and use an Oyster Card (not sure if this will make it any cheaper or just more convenient)
C) Buy monthly season tickets to London that include tube travel
D) Options that I've missed?

I have a 16-25 rail card but I'll be travelling peak times so I'm unsure if it will still help? If I've missed any obvious options then it'd be good to know!

Thanks very much :smile:

Reply 567

moregano

18

Original post by RobinK

I'll soon be beginning to commute into London from Leighton Buzzard for work, and I'm trying to work out what will end up cheapest until I can afford to move closer.

So far I see the options as:
A) Buy daily train and underground tickets (to Piccadilly Circus)
B) Buy daily train tickets and use an Oyster Card (not sure if this will make it any cheaper or just more convenient)
C) Buy monthly season tickets to London that include tube travel
D) Options that I've missed?

I have a 16-25 rail card but I'll be travelling peak times so I'm unsure if it will still help? If I've missed any obvious options then it'd be good to know!

Thanks very much :smile:

Assuming my calculations are correct, and assuming you're making a return journey at peak times 5 days per week...

a) Don't even consider single paper tickets on the Underground, they're almost double the price of an Oyster fare. See option b).

b) Daily anytime return Leighton-Euston with railcard discount (£372), plus single Oyster fare Euston-Picc. Circus (£84): £456 per 4 weeks.

c) Monthly season ticket Leighton- Euston (£380.20), plus single Oyster fare Euston-Picc. Circus (£84): £464.20. Monthly season ticket including Underground zones 1-6: £464.70.

So to be honest there's not a lot in it. Personally I'd go for the monthly season ticket plus Underground, so you've got it if you're planning on travelling around London at all. If you're able to pay for 3, 6 or 12 months then the price per month comes down as well. Finally, some employers offer season ticket loan schemes where they pay for the ticket and then take the money in instalments from your pay before tax, so it's worth finding out if that's an option for you.

If you really want to save money, this coach company does commuter trips to and from central London for £229 per month.

Reply 568

RobinK

Original post by moregano

Assuming my calculations are correct, and assuming you're making a return journey at peak times 5 days per week...

a) Don't even consider single paper tickets on the Underground, they're almost double the price of an Oyster fare. See option b).

b) Daily anytime return Leighton-Euston with railcard discount (£372), plus single Oyster fare Euston-Picc. Circus (£84): £456 per 4 weeks.

c) Monthly season ticket Leighton- Euston (£380.20), plus single Oyster fare Euston-Picc. Circus (£84): £464.20. Monthly season ticket including Underground zones 1-6: £464.70.

So to be honest there's not a lot in it. Personally I'd go for the monthly season ticket plus Underground, so you've got it if you're planning on travelling around London at all. If you're able to pay for 3, 6 or 12 months then the price per month comes down as well. Finally, some employers offer season ticket loan schemes where they pay for the ticket and then take the money in instalments from your pay before tax, so it's worth finding out if that's an option for you.

If you really want to save money, this coach company does commuter trips to and from central London for £229 per month.

That's absolutely fantastic :-) Thanks so much for your help! I agree that option C with the underground ticket seems like the best bet, so I think I'll go for that. Will also look into these loan schemes! Thanks again :h:

Reply 569

loz876

7

Hi guys, I've never posted in here but I figure someone might know the answer to this (if this is the right place to post...).
I have a question about the NUS 10% discount for Cross Country trains - I've used it before but i can't remember at all if it actually shows on the ticket that you've used the discount. The reason is that two of my friends are planning on buying advance tickets, but only one has an NUS card, but she happens to be the one buying the tickets... when you put your code in it automatically applies the discount to however many people you've put that are travelling, so applies the discount for the person without the NUS card. So basically, does it matter that only one person has an NUS card? Does it actually say on the ticket? I've never been asked for my card, but just to be safe...

Reply 570

Hey, does anyone know how the tube works in London? I've never travelled to London using public transport and I'm going there on Tuesday to hang out with some friends. I looked at the journey information and it says that the train from my city to London Euston arrives at 12:32, but then it says that the tube from London Euston to London Liverpool Street departs at 12:32. How will I make the tube if it leaves the same time as my train arrives?

Reply 571

Original post by Sem193

I looked at the journey information and it says that the train from my city to London Euston arrives at 12:32, but then it says that the tube from London Euston to London Liverpool Street departs at 12:32.

How comes you booked this? Didn't you realise the train at Liverpool Street departs as the same time as you get off from Euston? There's no way of making the Liverpool Street train.

Is it too late to change the times?

Reply 572

Original post by James A

How comes you booked this? Didn't you realise the train at Liverpool Street departs as the same time as you get off from Euston? There's no way of making the Liverpool Street train.

Is it too late to change the times?

I didn't book it, but was going to. I'll look for some other tickets then.

Reply 573

Original post by Sem193

I didn't book it, but was going to. I'll look for some other tickets then.

I'd give yourself a 30 minute gap between when you arrive at Euston and when the Liverpool Street train departs

You'll need to walk out of Euston rail station and head to Euston Square Underground station and take the Circle Line/Hammersmith and City Line/Metropolitan Line to Liverpool Street. That journey should take 10-15 minutes :smile:

If you got more questions, feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 574

The same thing happens with other tickets as well. The train arrives at the same time as the tube leaves, that's why I thought I there was something I didn't know about the tube. I don't know if I'm reading it right, but I never have problems with these things.

Here's the journey summary (I hope you can understand it):

Journey summary
Outward Journey (30 Jul 2013)

Depart:10:45 Wolverhampton
Arrive: 12:32 London Euston

Depart: 12:32 London Euston
Arrive: 13:00 London Liverpool Street Tube

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 575

Original post by Sem193

The same thing happens with other tickets as well. The train arrives at the same time as the tube leaves, that's why I thought I there was something I didn't know about the tube. I don't know if I'm reading it right, but I never have problems with these things.

Here's the journey summary (I hope you can understand it):

Journey summary
Outward Journey (30 Jul 2013)
Depart Arrive Travel by Train company Duration
10:45 Wolverhampton
12:32 London Euston Train VIRGIN TRAINS 01h 47

12:32 London Euston
13:00 London Liverpool Street Tube n/a 00h 28

Yep, I understand it.

The website doesn't take into account the time taken to travel to the other station, in your case, from Euston to Liverpool Street, which is like 15 minutes max. It's silly :facepalm2:

.

Did you see my post above :smile:

?

Reply 576

Original post by James A

Yep, I understand it.

The website doesn't take into account the time taken to travel to the other station, in your case, from Euston to Liverpool Street, which is like 15 minutes max. It's silly :facepalm2:

.

Did you see my post above :smile:

?

Just saw it now :smile:

Thanks, it is quite silly :/ I thought I was going mad or something. Thanks again for your help :biggrin:

Reply 577

Original post by Sem193

Just saw it now :smile:

Thanks, it is quite silly :/ I thought I was going mad or something. Thanks again for your help :biggrin:

Apologies for taking long to reply, I just had dinner :tongue:

I saw that you were thinking of getting a travel card, but that's gonna be more expensive than paying just for the individual journey made on the underground (Euston Square to Liverpool Street).

Liverpool street and euston square are both in zones 1.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

Are you gonna be doing a return journey aswell?

The thing is that you need an Oyster Card (heard of those? :tongue:

) to get the cheapest fare, compared to the old fashioned paper tickets :tongue:

You need to go to one of the ticket booths at Euston Square station and ask for an oyster card. You will have to pay 5 quid (which is refundable so after your last tube journey, you can hand back the oyster card at any station's ticket booth and you will get your five pounds back). The 5 quid is just for the oyster card only, not the journey, which you will have to top up money on it.

A single journey on the tube in zone one costs 2.10 quid, which is cheaper than taking out a travel card.

Are you returning on the same day?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 578

Original post by James A

Apologies for taking long to reply, I just had dinner :tongue:

I saw that you were thinking of getting a travel card, but that's gonna be more expensive than paying just for the individual journey made on the underground (Euston Square to Liverpool Street).

Liverpool street and euston square are both in zones 1.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

Are you gonna be doing a return journey aswell?

The thing is that you need an Oyster Card (heard of those? :tongue:

) to get the cheapest fare, compared to the old fashioned paper tickets :tongue:

You need to go to one of the ticket booths at Euston Square station and ask for an oyster card. You will have to pay 5 quid (which is refundable so after your last tube journey, you can hand back the oyster card at any station's ticket booth and you will get your five pounds back). The 5 quid is just for the oyster card only, not the journey, which you will have to top up money on it.

A single journey on the tube in zone one costs 2.10 quid, which is cheaper than taking out a travel card.

Are you returning on the same day?

I ended up changing the destination to Ealing Broadway Station because the journey was much simpler and there was an option to add a travel card to the price of the train ticket for an extra two pounds. I wish I had seen your post earlier :/ I think I may catch the tube a lot with my friends that day, though. Well, hopefully. Thanks so much for your help though. I'm definitely gonna save what you've said for future reference :smile:

Reply 579